


The Dead and the Eaten

by Riuto (orphan_account)



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Blood and Violence, Cannibalism, Canon Gay Relationship, Gun Violence, M/M, Past Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-13
Updated: 2015-11-16
Packaged: 2018-05-01 10:20:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5202200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Riuto
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Will Graham finds himself with Hannibal Lecter in the zombie apocalypse. He knows of Hannibal's serial killer past and has problems trying to trust him, while Hannibal is falling for him in a way neither of them expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Hannibal the Cannibal

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoy this haven't done a zombie apocalypse AU before

Will heard the crunch of autumn leaves not far from him. The trees blocked his view and he pressed up against one, disguising himself in his surrounding keeping a lookout. His skin was slicked in sweat, his jeans and plaid shirt dirty and beyond repair. That’s all he had on him other than the black backpack slung over his shoulders carrying food and supplies. The crunch got louder. It was rhythmic. They were human. More troublesome. He peered round to get a glimpse of a man larger than himself looking around the area inquisitively, as though he was trying to look for something rather than pass through. He had a scruffy grey and white beard, his hair grown down to the nape of his neck. Will gripped the butcher knife in his hand, it was already drenched in dried up blood.

“I can smell you,” the man announced, “Why don’t you just come out so we can talk? You don’t need to hide unless you plan to _kill_ me.” Those words hung in the air, like an ominous note played from a piano.

Will’s breathing rapidly increased, and his heart began to pound louder as he came near. He heard a groan, and stumbling footsteps come out of the bushes behind him. The snapping of bared teeth sending shivers down his spine. He peered round the tree to see the rotting fleshed figure with its intestines barley in its own body snapping its jaws at the man. He watched as he pulled out the knife and lodged it in the creature’s skull.

This was his chance.

 Will ran at the man from behind kicking the back of his knees, just as the zombie fell to the ground in a heap, making the larger man fall to his hands and knees. He pulled the man’s left arm back as far as it could go without breaking it and swiftly put the knife gripped tightly in his hands up to his throat, digging it in slightly.

“Drop the knife.” The man let go of it letting it crumple the leaves on the ground. Will quickly kicked it far out of reach in front of them. “What do you want?” Will whispered aggressively into the man’s right ear, making sure not to attract any more attention to themselves.

“I just want to find someone I can survive with,” The man said, hiding his emotions from Will. His face blank, only with the slight sign of fear in his eyes. 

“Why? Why would you want that? Most people now - you can’t trust to turn your back on. I doubt you would’ve found me and just wanted to talk. Why did you want to even talk to me?” Will asked.

“You seem like a lone survivor yourself. You wouldn’t attack someone for no reason unless you had the weapons to do it.” The man slowly licked his lips, biting down on them.

“Keep talking. Make me change my mind on killing you right here,” Will said.

“The fact that you haven’t killed me yet makes me want to trust you. I knew that zombie was there. I knew I could handle it on my own. I wanted to see what you would do if my back was turned. You’re smart. You didn’t just come out when I said I wanted to talk. You stayed in position and waited until you saw the chance to gain the upper hand.” The man felt Will loosen his grip on the knife and took his chance. With his right arm free he quickly pulled Will’s arm away from his throat. The grasp on his left arm was let go, he flipped Will’s body in front of him, making Will slightly dazed. He grabbed the arm holding the knife and put it to Will’s own throat, while grabbing his other arm and crossing it over Will’s chest pulling him in to his own body. The man now sat on the ground and Will was practically in his lap.

“I can get myself out of most situations. My name is Hannibal, by the way. What is yours?”

Will could barely process what just happened, but he replied, “Will.” 

“Hello, Will. Now would you like to join me, or become the next meal for the dead to feast on?”

Will knew he had to join him. He felt uncomfortable doing so. Hannibal was dangerous. The worst part of it was the fact he was sane. He could become a very powerful ally, or a very powerful enemy. “I’ll join you.” Will gasped, as Hannibal quickly let go of his body letting him fall forward into the ground. He picked himself up.

He looked around at the ground but his knife was missing he glanced up at Hannibal as the man stepped in front of him. “Looking for this?” he said handing him the hilt of his knife, while slipping his own back into the sheath by his hip. Will grabbed it gently from his hand scowling. Wondering how this man took it from him. “If we come across anyone you’ll want to be by my side. Especially, if they’re not insane. The insane ones are easy. The sane ones you should watch.” He looked at his surrounding and began to walk in a very particular direction, away from the road.

“Where are we going?” Will asked.

“Anywhere but here. There’s a herd moving along the road. We move through the trees only, until we find a town.” He stated.

“You never told me your last name.” Will said.

“Nor you, Will.”

“Will Graham.”

Hannibal breathed in before answering, “It’s Hannibal Lecter.”

Will was shocked to hear the name. “I don’t want to pry. We all had extremely different lives before… but you were that serial killer weren’t you. The one called Hannibal the Cannibal by some psychiatrist.”

“His name was or is… I don’t know any more, Frederick Chilton. But I hope that won’t cause any problems between us. I don’t do that anymore. People are tainted. It would be ill advised to even try to do something like that now.”

“I see.”

You’re not frightened.” Hannibal said this as though he knew exactly. Will knew he was a psychiatrist but how much did he know in order to tell what Will felt.

“Yes. But I’m always afraid. Fear is what keeps us alive, it keeps us on edge. Without it we die. Fear helps us survive.” He answered, making sure not to attract attention to himself.

“Have you killed anyone yet?” Hannibal asked boldly.

“No, surprisingly. I’ve just been lucky. I was in a group before but they all dwindled away, every single one got bitten. I met one group of people who tried to kill me. But a small herd of zombies got to them before I could even do anything.”

Will imagined killing them. He liked the idea of it. Death is beautiful in its own way. The thought of the grotesque deaths now made the enchanting ones you witnessed stunning. But Will wants to believe he can be better, that he can hold onto that helpful hand inside him. The voice that tells him to stop. The empathy he feels for each and every one of those who die in front of him. It felt as though it was dwindling away for such a long time. Hannibal on the other hand has made his disorder feel stronger again. He hated it. But he can get to know Hannibal in a way he is not aware of. 

“You want to help others don’t you?” He asked. He was already prying into Will’s pretty little head. Hannibal wanted to know more. This man intrigued him in a way others haven’t. He wanted to either make Will Graham’s death the most beautiful death this world will ever see, or have him by his side creating these masterpieces in a world ever changing.

“Yeah. But the world is ending. Not much you can do about that.”

“It’s not ending. It never was. All it did was change. We’re the ones who are failing to change with it.” The words left his lips, with deadly intent, frosty and poisonous to the ear.


	2. The Tongue of the Damned

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a bit of a stumble with my other fic Shattered Time right now so I have this chapter up for the time being but the next chapter i put up will be a Shattered Time one I'll try to alternate evenly between the two

Hannibal and Will were walking for about two hours, and very little was said. The silence left in the air was a conversation in itself. Neither of them trusted each other. The difference was Hannibal wanted to know more about Will. A lot more. He interested him in a way no other person he’s come across has. “Will?”

Will responded with a noise in his throat.

“What did you do before all of this?”

“I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me more than what everyone knows about you? You’ve barely talked about yourself.” Will said in an aggressive manner, clenching his teeth as his words left his spiteful tongue.

“Okay then.” Hannibal paused. He needed to just talk, about his feelings, about killing, anything. He wanted Will’s trust more than anything right now. It felt imperative for his plans. “I was psychiatrist. I either really enjoyed relationships I had with people or didn’t. Some people I just can’t stand, especially if they’re rude.” Hannibal, for once, had trouble grasping for words as he stopped for moment looking into Will’s blue eyes. He began walking again brushing off the feeling. “Other killers have looked for my guidance, but to me they were pawns in a larger game I was playing. I couldn’t trust them. I trusted those who didn’t understand me more than those who had some kind of familiarity with my work.”

Will looked at him for a moment. The man that was so quick on his feet. The man who knew his way around language to the point where he could manipulate anyone he wanted, actually had trouble finding words. The phrasing of that entire conversation was incredibly awkward. Will couldn’t believe he was talking to the man who tricked him into joining with a stranger mere hours ago. “I get that.” Will felt like he needed to open up to this man, as he sighed heavily before continuing, “I used to be fragile. I could be easily manipulated by others, but they didn’t understand me. They saw me as a tool, rather than a friend. Even if they saw me as a friend they didn’t understand.” Will didn’t understand why he was telling Hannibal this, but he was. A part of him wanted to trust the man. But every other part of him told him to stop. The keys were already set in motion, the music couldn’t be stopped.

“What did you do?” Hannibal asked.

“I was a profiler for murder investigations. I worked for the FBI.” Will hesitated for a moment, and Hannibal took note, as the last key was played. “I have an empathy disorder.” Will took a sharp breath in, his hand began to shake. He clutched it and unclutched it over and over. His anxiety becoming worse under Hannibal’s strong gaze, “I could empathise with murderers. They could get inside my head, and I could get inside theirs.”

“Did you ever work on my case?”

“Once… But I had to quit. I couldn’t handle it. I was being drawn in, more and more. I found-“ Will stopped talking realising what he was about to say to the very killer he empathised with. He had to quit because of him. “You know Jack Crawford, the guy that caught you and lost you.” He saw Hannibal’s devious smile, at the comment, and Will couldn’t help but laugh. “He’s the one I felt used by, along with Alana Bloom on some occasions, she understood to a certain level. She cared for me, but because of your case it just wouldn’t work.”

“Interesting that I met you of all people, when we could’ve been so close to each other at one point or another. Destiny is strange.”

“I don’t believe in destiny. Certain people meet at certain times, and people may know others you know but it’s just life going round.” Will said, his voice gone drab as he twirled his finger round in a circle.

The moaning started up again from all directions, seven zombies headed for them. The fear rose in Will’s chest once again. He pulled out his knife by the hilt, it was light in his fingertips and the point headed straight for the head of the closest corpse headed for him. He glanced around to see Hannibal attempting to handle quite a few, but Will knew he could take care of himself. Will was knocked to the ground by the heaving weight of one of the walking dead that caught him by surprise. It landed right on top of him. Hannibal saw what happened “HEY! OVER HERE!” Hannibal yelled drawing their attention towards himself.

Will grabbed the one on top of him by the shoulders pushing it away, its teeth snapping in his ears loudly, it became harder to push it back. He looked around and spotted his knife on the ground beside him he positioned one hand on its chest and watched as his hand crumpled inward, dead, darkened blood surrounding his flesh. He quickly grabbed hold of the knife as his heart rattled in his chest. Everything felt like it was going silent, his ears were ringing all he could hear was those teeth heading closer towards his face. He was in an awkward position and the knife slipped up into the corpse’s abdomen as he lifted his arm, intestines spilling out onto him. The stench was awful, but he kept on. The knife was up by his hand which was now embedded in the zombies’ chest, both their bodies so close now. He yanked out the blade, and lodged it up through the bottom of its jaw. He had the upper hand. The creature was still moving, snapping its jaws like it knew it was close to officially being dead. Will pushed it off his body his hand now free from its chest and crawled over to it fast enough to embed the blade into its forehead. Just as it happened he looked up to see Hannibal kill the last one he had, blood splattered all over him. Will rolled over onto his back and just took a deep, shaky breath.

Hannibal watched Will relax, his body was covered in blood right up to his head, most of him drenched in the dark blood. Hannibal knew right then, he wanted Will to survive. He wanted Will by his side and no one else’s. He walked over to him slowly, catching his breath. He knelt down beside him and offered his hand to him. Will accepted grabbing hold of it a bit tighter than normal. Hannibal had dealt with people who wanted to live, those who have faced death and survived he knows how they act. But Will grabbing hold, of Hannibal’s hand the way he did was different. Was he glad he was there? Was he in need of human touch? Or was he just happy he survived? 

Hannibal didn’t question it and he brought Will to his feet. His touch lingering on his hand a bit longer than normal. “Come on. We shouldn’t be far. The herd must be getting closer, we need to find a building to hide in now.”

Will nodded, his heart fluttering. They both ran. There was no use now they had to follow the road now. Will turned his head for a second to see a couple of kilometres down the road the herd. It wasn’t the biggest herd he’s seen but if it hit them while they were close they would die. They continued running for a few more minutes until they found a town. No dead in sight. It was a place where people could easily flee from if something bad happened. Hannibal found a small, quiet convenience store and opened the glass door, pushing it in with his shoulder, the barricade blocking their path. “Get in.” He said sternly. Will complied and got through the gap he managed to hold open and heard Hannibal close the door behind them.  

Will withdrew his knife, and scanned the room. There was a door labelled ‘storage’ towards the back, but no dead bodies laid in sight. He walked over and clasped the silver handle. Taking a deep breath before opening it, he turned the handle. Two very weak zombies on the tiled floor before him. The both of them could barely move. He quickly killed them both and closed the door behind him, he slumped his backpack to the ground and leaned on the door behind him, watching Hannibal as he searched the store. Hannibal walked over to him, “There’s nothing left here. It looks like a lot of people scavenged this area.”

Will nodded, quiet until he said, “I wanted to thank you for before. If you hadn’t drawn in all of them to you, I-“

Hannibal put up one of his hands to him, “There’s no need. I did what I had to so we could both survive.”

“By you taking the full brunt of them?” Will questioned barely believing this was the man so many people feared.

“Yes.”

Will looked at how his face softened just looking at him. Hannibal was about to turn away, he noticed his face go harsh again, before Will touched the side of his face turning him back to face him. Will pulled his body forward, and Hannibal felt their lips touch. The kiss and taste of Will was sublime. Hannibal pulled Will’s body closer as they kissed more passionately until he felt Will’s nails dig into his back. Will felt Hannibal begin to explore his mouth with his wicked tongue. He slammed Will’s back against the wall in front of them, and felt Will’s hands reach up stroking his hair. Then they heard the sounds of the dead in the distance. He pulled back letting them both gasp for breath. Hannibal placed one finger up against Will’s lips, and leaned against the wall beside him sliding down until he hit the floor, taking Will with him. Will leaned his head up against Hannibal’s chest as the first zombie slowly walked past. Not taking a single notice of their existence. Will wrapped his arms around him. He didn’t understand why he was doing this. Why he even had these feelings. The man he was holding onto was a serial killer, a psychopath. A person who took enjoyment out of killing people and yet he felt safe. His mind was rattled, screaming at his body to stop, he didn’t trust Hannibal at all, but he stayed. Will buried his face into him as he heard the moans grow louder. Hannibal could feel the rapid beating of Will’s heart. He was scared. He wasn’t afraid to show it either. Fear built who he was now. Hannibal began to rub his hand up and down Will’s arm and watched as more of them stalked past.


End file.
